HarrieH's classic track bike projectA track bike has the beauty of simplicity. No distraction of cables, bottle holders, pumps and other accessories. Just a frame, fork, drivetrain, steering components and something to sit on will do the job on a track.
Some parts I already have for decades, others I have to collect. It's fun to look for the right components, to get them, build up the bike and, of course, ride it on the velodrome.
Oh, besides track, lots of (off-)road stuff as well.

Till today I've been on the track (indoor, Omnisportcentrum Apeldoorn) 3 times. The first riding impressions of the new ALAN track bike are very good and I get a lot of nice response. Everybody really likes the bike. The position on the bike is just as I wanted and it makes a big difference with the Giant, that was really too small.

A few things could be better. The combination pedals, toe clips, straps and cleats is not ideal. The feet keep sliding inwards, towards the cranks and I have to readjust my foot position frequently to make sure that I don't rub the crank arms all the time. Next to that, the shoes feel really weak. They don't offer a lot of support. When I tighten the toe straps, it really hurts. And when the straps are not very tight, I keep slipping towards the crank arms and there's even the possibility to pull the feet out of the pedals. Conclusion: it looks fine, but it doesn't feel good. So, either I have to find top quality vintage shoes or I have to switch to clipless pedals. The bar tape with shellac looked really well when the bike was unused, but after the first evening, I saw the spots where my hands rested. It looked like the shellac was worn. Perhaps it didn't have the time to cure. I will try to do some "spot repair" and let it rest for some weeks. Perhaps that is okay.

The first evening was pursuit training. I was not fit and I felt bad, but it was a good occasion to test the bike.2 weeks later I joined a free training. Still not fit, but fine to get used to the bike and to do some serious exercises.Last Saturday, there was a Madison training. I did a bit of Madison 1 or 2 times over 20 years ago, so it was good to get some more tips and experience. The riding was already a lot better than the 2 times before and I had far less problems with the pedals, shoes and feet. Sorry for the crappy picture, but that's all I have at the moment.

It took some time, but finally I've shellacked the black cloth handlebar tape. I've looked for blond shellac flakes on auction site "Marktplaats" and I found this web shop: http://www.politoeren.com. An interesting website with good information and a good web shop. Compared with what I've seen at other sites, this is really affordable. The only negative point is the shipping costs, especially for the ethanol. Finally, I bought 100 g blond shellac flakes at an art shop in Kampen: "Kreatief Bezig Zijn". Cost me EUR 10.-. Shellac products from this stuff are purchased here: http://www.verfmolendekat.com. A Dutch dealer list is available on this web page. The stuff at this shop is far more expensive than politoeren.com, but I could buy a small quantity and I didn't have to pay for postage.Denatured ethanol of at least 95% was harder to find. Drugstores sell it in small bottles of 100 ml or so, but that's very expensive. The people of our local pharmacy were very helpful and ordered a 1 l bottle at a very fair price of EUR 9.95.I dissolved 50 g in 1/6 l ethanol. The ethanol was heated indirectly. First, I boiled water and put this in a container. Placed a clear glass jar with ethanol/shellac mix in this hot water to heat it up. From time to time I took new hot water and every 30 min or hour I shook the jar with shellac. Dissolving shellac in ethanol takes approx. 24 to 48 hours.I applied the shellac with a paint brush in 10 or 12 layers. One layer was not completely cured before the next one was applied. Between each layer, I waited at least 1 hour, and in this way I did 2 or 3 layers per evening.